Sinning With An Angel
by Songstone
Summary: Kisame seems to have developed a crush on a young stripper; he hadn't planned that the same man would be attending his college, though. Getting to know him better, however, Kisame can't help but to fall even harder Itachi, despite his night-job. -KisaIta-
1. Boy's Night Out

**Sinning With An Angel**

**A story by Songstone**

**Songstone: Because I felt like writing something for Kisame and Itachi! XD Well, you'll have to read this chapter first before I give an explanation, so I hope that you'll enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**Chapter 1: Boy's Night Out**

"Come on. I know this great place to go to. It's downtown, un." I allowed myself to be talked into climbing into my friend's car and heading towards the 'bad side' of town. Deidara seemed pleased with himself as he broke the speed limit with his bright yellow eye-sore of a car. "I went there before. Lots of hotties." He snickered to himself and whizzed right past a stop sign, not even bothering to look both ways.

That was just how Deidara was. He didn't care about rules and regulations and prefered to drive sixty in a fifty-five mile per hour zone. He liked to break rules and he had been that way ever since fifth grade where we met. He had a very unhealthy obsession with fire as well. I can still remember him as a puny ten-year-old sitting outside with a magnifying glass, trying to burn the worker ants that passed by his feet.

"Okay. But just remember; I want to be back at the dorms at least by one o' clock. I have a test tomorrow. And so do you, Dei." That was the most annoying aspect that Deidara had. He wouldn't listen to what anyone said. I had tried to talk him out of going downtown since it was already eleven thirty at night, but he didn't pay any attention to me. And now here I was, being driven towards some unknown restaraunt. Or my death, judging by the way Deidara was driving.

"Yes mom." Deidara said, rolling his blue eyes and then turning to stick his tongue out at me. I couldn't help but laugh when he did that.

"You look like a chick, man." I informed him, chuckling. Deidara had always appeared feminine. He chose to grow his blond hair long, keeping it styled in a ponytail on the back of his neck. His eyelashes were long and his bangs hung low over one eye. From afar, he could pass as a very flat-chested girl, but once he started talking, you would know he was a guy. His voice had gotten really deep as soon as he had hit puberty, so now he had the voice of a man but the appearance of a lady. Everyday I teased him about it and everyday I got teased right back.

"And you look like the Catch of the Day, Fish Face. Un." Deidara snapped, but in a joking manner. I could tell because he had a small smirk on his face as he spoke.

I growled a bit anyway, constantly defending my looks. My skin wasn't by any means a 'normal' color since the pigment was a light blue. I had been told that my golden colored eyes were small and beedy and that they were to close together. Also, my nose was too big and I had a wide mouth that allowed me to show off nearly all of my teeth when I smiled. Just beneath my eyes on either side of my face, I had three black lines that some people chose to call gills. Hence the comparison to a fish. I was way too tall, standing six foot six at the age of twenty-two, and my body was large and looming over everyone else's. I looked different, yes, but I had never considered myself different than anyone else. Still, I ocassionally got teased. Namely by Deidara.

"Aw, bite me." I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Where?" Was the response I got, and I rolled my eyes while Deidara began to snort in amusement. He tried, but the man just wasn't funny. "Look, Kisame. We're here." He slammed his foot down on the brake so suddenly that I went forward, gagging when my neck was caught by the seatbelt I wore. "Let's go. Un." Deidara hopped out of the vehicle after he had cut the engine, not having to unbuckle himself since he never wore a safety belt.

Rubbing my neck, I unstrapped myself and shoved the car door open, standing up to my full height and walking towards my friend, who was already heading towards the entrance of a large purple building. "What is this place?" I asked as I followed him up the steps.

Deidara looked over his shoulder at me and smiled. "It's called Shut Up An Stop Asking Questions, un." He joked, but something about the way his eyes gleamed in excitement and how he smiled at me made me shiver slightly.

As we neared the door, I caught sight of a flyer advertising the building. It read 'The Palace.' I raised a brow and then glanced down at Deidara. That certainly didn't sound like the name of a restaurant. "Dei, where'd you bring me?" I asked, but I let my eyes move away from my friend once he had pushed the door open and the aroma of alcohol hit me right in the face. Loud music made me deaf for a moment, but when I had recovered, I head Deidara telling me to follow him. I did so without complaint, but let my eyes wander to inspect where I was.

I saw rows of men sitting in front of a stage, whistling and waving their arms. Some were guzzling down what could have been their tenth beer for all I knew, and they were stumbling around awkwardly. Looking away from the spectators, I glanced up at the stage to see what was happening to make everyone cheer. Instantly, I stopped in my tracks and my eyes went so wide, I though that they would pop out of my head. There were . . . poles. They had poles in the middle of the stage and people were dancing around them. No, not just people. Men. They were all men and they were twirling and throwing themselves at the poles, swinging around and around while the crowd below cheered them on.

"Deidara!" I hissed from between clenched teeth. "You brought me to a strip club!" I wrenched my eyes away from the people up on stage and glared down at my best friend, who was looking like he was about to go into hysterics. "A _gay_ strip club!"

Deidara snickered as he looked up at me, then he turned towards the counter where he had led me to. He flashed his ID and then ordered two alcoholic beverages before he turned back to me. "It's not that bad, Kisame. Look, un. There's women over there." He pointed to the side where there were at least three ladies surrounding one man. They were shaking and dancing very suggestively in front of him while he cheered and slipped cash into their thongs. "But everyone knows you like men. So give up the act."

My cheeks heated up, though it was hard to see the faint blush that stained my face because of the strange color my skin held. I didn't comment to my friend's words since they were sort of true. I had always held some sort of fascination with my own gender and found myself drawn to them. I had even lost my virginity to a man; Deidara. When I was sixteen and he was fifteen we had both decided to experiment a little bit with our bodies. What had followed had been a very short, awkward, sexual act that both of us regret. We hadn't been ready for such an act, so it hadn't been very enjoyable. However, as we continued to grow, we would occasionally get together and complete the act again. Both for sexual gratification and for experience. I never considered us a couple, and neither had he, so there was no worry about commitment or unfaithfulness.

"We have a test tomorrow. I can't take it with a hangover." I protested when Deidara shoved a bottle of beer into my hands. "I want to finish collage, Deidara. I can't do that if I'm out every night partying."

The blond scoffed and pushed me towards a table to sit at, taking a long gulp from his own bottle as he did so. "You're going to fail it anyway, Kisame." He told me flatly, but jokingly. "You're not all that bright." He cackled to himself and weaved his way through the small crowd that had formed around the stage we were heading towards.

With a heavy sigh, I allowed myself to follow the shorter man. "Thanks for the support." I groaned, rolling my eyes. "With friends like you, who needs enemies?" I chuckled along with Deidara and continued to walk towards an empty table, but found myself stumbling back when someone crashed into my chest roughly. "Oh! Excuse me." I apologized quickly, even if it hadn't been my fault.

The person who had bumped into me recoiled and caught himself against a nearby table. "Hey--" He began with an annoyed tone in his voice. He lifted his head to stare up at my face and instantly his eyes widened. The man wasn't very tall; he must have stood at least five foot six, so he was obviously intimidated by my massive height. He had long black hair reaching his mid-back while it lay pulled back into a loose ponytail. His eyes were also black, cool and surrounded by thick lashes. The man cleared his throat and tightened the knots on the robe he was wearing. " . . . Watch where you walk." He warned in a huff, hurrying past me in the next second and disappearing into the crowd.

"You watch where _you're_ walking, you bitch!" Deidara called after him, taking another long drink from his bottle. "Geez, what a jackass. Right Kisame? Un. Kisame. Yo, Fish Face!" I felt something strike against my arm and instantly gave a start, looking away from where the stranger had left to stare down at my friend.

"Huh?" I asked lamely, glancing over to where the shorter man had left before I turned and focused all of my attention on the blond.

"Oh my God." Deidara scoffed, breaking out into a snide grin. "You like him." He motioned at me quickly and then headed back towards a free table where we would be able to sit and drink; and enjoy the show.

"What?" I asked, my mouth falling open instantly. I hurried after Deidara quickly, putting the bottle of beer down before I actually took a seat. "I don't like him . . ." I clarified, placing my chin into the palm of my hand as I leaned on my elbow.

"Tch. Sure you don't. That's why you were checking out his ass, un." Deidara snickered and took a long gulp from the beer in his hand.

I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment and glared across the table at Deidara, who chuckled when he saw my face. "I was not. Shut up." I told him flatly, pouting a bit. I glanced down at the beer that I had set onto the table and picked it up after a few contemplative thoughts on whether or not I should. Placing the rim of the bottle against my lips, I tilted back my head and took one long swig--

--not even getting a chance to swallow, the alcoholic beverage was coughed back up when my eyes landed on something. Or rather, someone.

From somewhere around me, I heard Deidara cry out and start to scream at me for spitting up all over him, but I payed him no mind. My eyes were glued completely on the stage that we had seated ourselves besides.

The lights above had changed a bit and were flashing an eerie purple and red while some fast music began to blare from the speakers around the stage. Never once did I take my eyes away from the stage, or the person who had walked out into the spotlight.

"Un? Hey! It's that bitch who bumped into you, right?" Deidara's voice was suddenly louder, indicating that he was leaning in close to me. He had probably been about to whack me or something, though he had followed my gaze and saw who I was watching. I heard him cackle to himself before he said loudly, in a sing song voice that made me want to punch him; "Ha! Kisame's in love with a stripper, un!"

**Songstone: . . . BECAUSE ITACHI'S THEME SOUNDS LIKE STRIPPER MUSIC! XD I wanted to write something that dealt with the Akatsuki guys, be it AU or Narutoverse, and this is what came out. I blame it all on Itachi for having stripper music as his theme. XD Anyway, I have good plans for this story. It's going to have many twist and turns for poor Kisame and Itachi, so I hope you guys will stick around for another chapter. R&R please!**

** P.S: Don't you just love Deidara's "un"?! XD  
**


	2. Fleeting Grace

**Sinning With An Angel**

**A story by Songstone**

**Songstone: Yup, yup. Thought that those of you guys who actually liked this story would appreciate an update. XD Hope that this chapter will be all right.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**Chapter 2: Fleeting Grace**

"Go on." Deidara's annoyingly happy voice was near my ear. "Call him down for a lap dance, un."

"No way!" I shouted. And nearly instantly, I regretted it. The people around the stage turned to see who had cried out so suddenly, and I felt my face flush a deep shade of red.

The redness of my blood clashing with the blue color of my skin sometimes made it seem like I was choking because of the purple color my face would turn.

"No." I lowered my voice and glared sideways at Deidara.

"Why not? Un. You scared? Chicken?" The blond asked, smirking faintly as he looked up at the dancer who was still moving about the stage like an old pro.

"I don't want to inturrupt." I said quietly as I found my eyes being drawn back towards the man as well. He seemed around our age, but the way he danced . . .

It was graceful.

That probably wasn't the best word that should be used about dancers in a strip club, but the way that the raven haired man moved around up on stage . . . It was the only word that I thought would fit. He added grace to an otherwise distasteful routine. At least, in my eyes.

"Shake it! But don't break it! Took yo' momma nine months to make it! Un!" Deidara shouted suddenly, startling me out of my own thoughts and forcing me to blink my eyes.

"Dammit, Dei!" I hissed at him. Half of the people around the stage turned to look at who was shouting, and I felt my face turn all sorts of shades of purple. "Shut the hell up, would you?" I asked, groaning as I rubbed my forehead.

"What?" Deidara asked, shrugging. He obviously wasn't as embarrassed over what he'd said as I was. "Just warning him, un." He said, sniggering. "What with all that shaking, he could damage something on his pretty little body." He said, repeating his words from earlier in a much more coherent way of speech.

"Look, just shut up for once in your life." I told him rather coldly. I wasn't in the mood to sit around and listen to Deidara shouting nasty things up at the dancer on stage, anyway. His voice got tiresome after a while. Yeah, that was it. I wasn't defending the guy up there at all.

"Geez, who the hell peed in your cheerios this morning? You're so grumpy, un." Deidara grunted, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair, eyes moving back to the stage to catch up on what he'd missed from the preformance.

I just wrinkled my nose in his direction before I also glanced up at the stage even if it went against my better judgement.

I saw the man's long hair swing behind him as he made a sharp turn. He had one hand gripping the pole in the center of the stage as he twirled around it at a steady pace.

This was crazy. The guy even made pole dancing look elegant! Every move he made, every sway of his hips and toss of his hair, convinced me further that he didn't belong in a strip club. He deserved to be a ballroom dancer of some sorts with those beautiful, fluid movements he was capable of.

But suddenly, all of that grace seemed to cave in and implode on itself as the man's hold on the pole slipped. He wobbled a bit before he simply slumped and fell to the side. His shoulder made a loud 'thunk' as it struck against the stage, and he stayed down for a while.

Finally, he stirred a bit and gripped his right shoulder with his left arm weakly before he slowly shoved himself up into a sitting position. He lifted his head and peeked around his long black bangs at everyone watching him.

Some men were laughing quietly, while others just smirked and rolled their eyes lightly. I suddenly found myself on my feet, about to take a step towards the stage before I caught myself. The words 'are you all right?' were caught in my throat and I gave a thick swallow to keep them down.

"Oh my God!" I heard from somewhere to my left. I risked a glance to see who had said that and why, and saw Deidara holding his sides as he laughed. "He . . . he . . .! Oh God, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen, un!" He shouted, slapping his knee before he wiped away the tears of laughter falling from his eyes.

"Dei, be quiet. It wasn't funny." I warned, eyes narrowing at the blond before I turned back to see what had become of the dancer.

Another dancer was already hurrying over towards him, grabbing his arm and gently pulling him to his feet. She looked him over and spoke with him in whispers before she made a 'shoo shoo' gesture with one hand towards the stairs that led off of the stage.

The man looked a bit flushed; wether it was from embarrassment or exhaustion, I couldn't tell. But he finally gave a slow nod and headed towards the stairs, a small limp in his step and hand still clutching at his hurt shoulder.

"Hope he's okay . . ." I muttered aloud without even hearing myself speak. I sighed and turned back to Deidara, waving at him to stand up. "Come on, Dei. We both have a test tomorrow. We should leave already. It's late."

Deidara was still curled over the table, laughing wickedly under his breath. But he managed a slow nod before he slid out of his chair and stood. Apparently, he was too busy laughing to protest against leaving or tease me about the way I had just acted. Which was a good thing. I didn't need his constant chatter as he drove me back home.

However, I paused at the exit, glancing over my shoulder back into the club. I wondered to myself what had happened to the other man. He hadn't left in the best of shape, so I really hoped that he would be all right.

But it was silly of me to worry about a stripper that I didn't even know, right?

Yeah, I thought so too at first.

**Songstone: Woo! Finished! XD So proud of this. I've lost my internet again, so during the time that I was without it, I did a lot of writing and drawing. Hope that the writing payed off at least! Tell me what you think please. R&R.**

**P.S: THANK YOU, SASORI-DANNA FOR HELPING ME WITH THIS STORY! UN!**


	3. Seating Arrangements

**Sinning With An Angel**

**A story by Songstone**

**Songstone: Mmkay, I live. 8D;; Sorry for the long wait for this chapter! But it's long, so hopefully that'll make up for it. XD Oh, and I think I messed up on the first chapter. I'm sure that I put in there that Kisame lived in dorms. But I changed it halfway, I suppose. XD He really lives alone in a house that his parents left him. So there. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**Chapter 3: Seating Arrangements  
**

I was grateful once Deidara had dropped me off at my home.

Home. Safe. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary here.

I hefted my book bag over my shoulder and unlocked the front door, letting myself in successfully. I took a wide glance around once the wooden door was shut behind me and I had stepped into the house fully.

I didn't really have to worry about anyone scolding me for coming home so late. Both of my parents had died a couple of years ago. It wasn't like I was really close to them, so mourning didn't last very long for me.

It seemed that being an only child was a good thing. I got their full inheritance and even the house that they had owned. Not a shabby place, either. Two stories, three bedrooms, two baths . . .

Sometimes, though, it seemed to be just too big for one guy. No matter how oversized I was.

"God . . ." I muttered under my breath. I let the book bag slip from my shoulder and heard it hit the ground with a solid thunk as I pressed my back against the wall. I made no move to pick it back up.

What the hell was the matter with me? I raked my nails across the surface of my scalp, messing up the blue locks even more than they already were. Back there, in that club, I had been acting so strange. So jittery and defensive. I knew that Deidara had noticed it too.

And I had the strangest idea in my head that it was because of that red-eyed stripper.

I know. Crazy, right?

Groaning to myself, I ran my hand over my face and regretfully shoved myself away from the front door, standing up straight. I scooped my bag up from the ground and headed upstairs after I had snagged a soda from the fridge in the kitchen.

I pushed the door to my room open once I was upstairs and quickly went over and took a seat at my desk.

All right. Enough thinking about _that_. I had studying to do. Better cram tonight since tomorrow I had that test. I swore softly under my breath. "I had all week to study and I just_ had_ to wait 'till the last minute." I grumbled as I pulled out my text books as notepads. Deidara's procrastinating was rubbing off on me. Not good.

I spread out all of my books on the table and grabbed a pencil as I opened up my notebook. Leaning forward onto my elbow, I began to read over my notes silently.

My studying lasted for at least three more hours. The next time I glanced at the clock, it read two thirty A.M.

"Shit . . ." I grunted, yawning loudly once I had caught sight of the clock. Four more hours until I got up to get ready for school. "Shit . . ." I repeated myself and quickly hopped up from my desk. I left my books there for the moment, deciding to put them away in the morning. Right now, all I needed was sleep.

I lost my shirt and pants halfway towards the bed, leaving me in just my boxers when I finally crawled beneath the sheets. Sighing, I rolled over, stretching out in the queen sized bed.

"Night mom. Night dad." I grunted. Sure, they had been dead for two years, but it was a habit to tell them good night. Besides, it made me feel less alone in the house.

I slid both of my yellow eyes shut slowly, breathing out through my nose contentedly as my body relaxed against the mattress. It wasn't long before I was asleep; fading away into a world of red eyes and dancing poles.

- - -

It seems that the dreams I'd had after I returned home from the strip club had made me late for school. I heard my alarm blaring in my ears at exactly six in the morning, but I chose to ignore it. I was watching that raven haired stripper up on stage. He had just called me up to join him. How could you blame me?

_No, idiot! This is a dream! You're going to be late for school!_ I knew that I really needed to start listening to my rational side more often. He was always right about things like this.

"Crap!" I shouted once I had gotten my eyes opened up all the way about fourty minutes later. As soon as I had caught sight of the clock on my bedside table, I was wide awake. I hoped up from bed so fast that the sheets and blankets were tossed clear to the opposite wall when I threw them off of my body. "Crap, crap, crap, crap!" I chanted the word in a steady beat as I tossed open my bathroom door. It hit against the opposite wall loudly, most likely leaving a dent that I would have to repair later, but I paid no attention. I was late, dammit!

Hurriedly, I turned on the shower and wiggled free from my night shorts, jumping underneath the icy water that was falling from the faucet. I didn't have time to worry that my fingers were turning numb. I just quickly scrubbed myself down with the soap and savagely raked shampoo through my hair before I rinsed everything away at once.

Once my shower was through and I had quickly rushed myself with getting dressed, I grabbed up all of my books and notes and ran outside to start my car. After all of the studying I had done the other night, I'd better not be late for the test.

- - -

It seemed that I was rather lucky that morning. Not only did I make it to school on time, but the teacher hadn't even arrived yet! Score!

"Kisame!" I looked up and waved to Deidara, who was eagerly bouncing in his seat for me to sit besides him. "C'mere, un!"

"Shh."Someone hissed. I looked over Deidara's head once I was seated besides him and saw Sasori seated on my friend's other side. The redhead was reading quietly to himself and Deidara's voice was obviously making it hard to concentrate.

I didn't know much about Sasori other than he and Deidara met at the hospital when they were kids. Sasori had been getting a prosthetic arm made after he'd lost his real one in a car accident; and Deidara was going to have a fake eye made while he was recovering from an infection that led to the removal of his left eye.

Yes, it was a strange place to start a friendship, but they got along well, I thought. Save for the almost constant arguments about different types of art or music.

"Hey." I greeted both men as I dropped my book bag and sank back in my chair. Guh. Now that I had time to stop moving and relax a bit, I realized just how tired I was. I hadn't really gotten the chance to have a good night's rest. Oh well. This was collage life for you. I gave a shake of the head and rubbed my eyes lightly before glancing sideways as Deidara tapped my shoulder.

"Guess what." His voice got uncharacteristically soft. "Sasori managed to get us cheats on the test, un!" He gave a light laugh and looked from the corner of his right eye over at the said person briefly. "You want a copy of the answers?"

I snorted and shook my head, putting a hand to Deidara's forehead to push him away from me. "No. No I don't want cheats. Thank you." I said. Gee . . . _these_ were my friends . . .

Deidara grunted and flopped backwards into his chair, giving a shrug of the shoulders. "Fine. If you say . . ." He paused suddenly and I glanced over to him just in time to see a wicked grin spread over his face. ". . . so." He jolted forward in his seat and grabbed the sleeve of my jacket, tugging at it. "Look, un!" He hissed, his voice once more dropping into a soft tone. "Look who's coming in the door!"

"Dei, what the hell's the matter with--?" Oh God. I stopped my question when I instinctively glanced in the direction that Deidara had stuck his finger out to. Instantly I saw who he was talking about.

The door was now shutting behind the person who had entered our classroom, and all at once, I realized who it was. The black hair, lean body and sharp ruby colored eyes that darted around the classroom were enough. But then I spotted a slight limp in the man's walk and knew for a fact that there was no mistaking it. This was the same man who I had seen stripping up on stage the night before.

"Can you believe it?" Deidara's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and forced me to avert my eyes. "I would never had guessed that he goes here, un!" He laughed, snorting and covering his mouth to stay silent.

I tried my best to stay calm. Steady my heartbeat. That's right, Kisame. Just breathe. Calm yourself down.

Easier said than done. "Y-yeah. So what? Lots of guys go here." I said, crossing my arms. I was shooting for nonchalant, but I knew that my voice had risen awkwardly near the end of my sentence.

"Yeah, but not all they guys that go here work at strip joints, un." Deidara reminded me with a mischievous little cackle as he studied my face. Watching it turn purple, most likely. I felt how my cheeks heated up at the sudden arrival of that raven haired man.

"Think he'll remember us, un?" Deidara asked next, fiddling around with his pencils. He moved them with his finger across the hard wooden surface of his desk absently while he watched the man as he looked for a free place to seat himself in.

"I don't know." I grunted. "I hope not." I added under my breath as I slunk down a bit in my chair unconsciously. I was hoping that the other male wouldn't see me as he moved up the steps towards the desks.

"Hey. Hey. You should go down and sit next to him, un." Deidara said after he saw that the man had found a place to sit down at. Just a couple of rows in front of us, in fact.

I felt how I nearly choked on my own tongue at his suggestion. "And _what_ gave you _that_ brilliant idea, Dei?" I asked him in a whisper, keeping my eyes anywhere but forward and three seats to the left.

"Because you like him." Deidara said, cackling to himself.

"I do _not_!" I hissed, glaring at the blond from the corner of my eye as I quickly fished out a text book from my bag and used it to hide my face with as I pretended to be reading it.

"Well, you think he's hot anyway, un." Deidara said with a snort. He rolled his eye, then hissed in pain as Sasori (without looking up from his reading) slapped his hand, forcing the pencil he had been rolling over his desk out of his grasp. "Fucker..." Deidara mumbled.

"Bitch." Sasori retorted in his usual monotone. He licked a finger and turned a page in his novel.

I ignored those two as best as I could, trying to keep my eyes on the printed words in my book. But it was no good; I couldn't stop my eyes from flickering up and landing on the raven haired man's sleek form.

The man seemed oblivious to just about everything, really. He had a notebook and a pencil out, and he was scribbling something onto the paper at a surprising speed. He checked his watched every now and then, then lifted his head to look towards the front of the class before he went back to making notes.

"Look, there's a seat open besides him, un." I had been so wrapped up in my observations of the other's behaviour pattern that I didn't even notice that Deidara's argument with Sasori had ended and that his attention was back on me.

"Y-yeah. So?" I asked, huffing and quickly snapping my eyes back down to my own book, pretending to follow sentences with my eyes.

"_So_, you should go and claim a seat while you still can, un!" The blond said, rolling his visible eye and shaking me by the shoulder in a weak manner. "C'mon. I know you want to."

"Deidara, what's the big deal if I go to sit next to him?" I demanded in a low whisper to keep anyone from eavesdropping. "It's not like I'll _say_ anything to him."

"But maybe he'll say something to _you_, un." Deidara winked, which was a hard gesture to tell apart from any other blink, given how he kept his left eye hidden behind a long fringe. "Don't tell me you wouldn't tap that."

I was sure that I must have looked horrible by then; my skin was surely a royal purple by now, given how hot my face felt. "_Deidara_!" I hissed. "Ugh, you're impossible..."

Maybe it was just me wanting to get as far away from Deidara's crude way of talking as possible; or perhaps I just acted subconsciously. Whatever the reason, I didn't fully understand where my movements were taking me until I was seating myself again. This time I was two rows ahead of where I had been before, next to the third seat...

Oh...God...

The raven haired man was even more stunning up close. He had very sharp features; I took note of his hand, too, as he continued to write down notes in his book. His fingers were long and slender, though very strong looking. Artist's fingers, I recognized. Deidara had similar hands.

His bangs swooped quite low over his face as he hunched over his desk, so I couldn't get a good look at his eyes. But I could still clearly invision their blood-red colour in my head. Really, he seemed way too good-looking to be going to the same boring school that me and my friend's attended... Definitely way too handsome to have me seated next to him, too.

I realized that I was staring when a faint 'snap' brought my attention back to the here and now, and I quickly averted my gaze, fumbling with my book to open up to the page I had been pretending to read. I hoped he hadn't caught me gawking...

"Hn..." The man besides me muttered. He sounded irritated. I risked a glance in his direction from the corner of my eye and found his lips thinly pressed into a tight line. He sighed through his nose and I saw him set his pencil down; the lead had snapped.

Without really thinking (I seemed to be doing a lot of that, anyway), I reached to the side and fished around in my bag until my finger was poked by a pre-sharpened pencil. I pulled it out swiftly and awkwardly half-turned in my seat, holding out the writing tool to the man besides me. "Uhm...here..." I said stiffly. The raven haired man paused with the searching he had been doing in his own bag when I spoke, and he lifted his head up for the first time to face me.

His eyes were more enchanting than I remembered last; they caught mine only briefly, but that was enough to make my heart freeze momentarily. What was it about those bloody orbs that seemed to hold so much power?

"Thanks." He said. It took me a moment to remember what he was thanking me for, and when I did, I found that I still had my hand held out, even if the pencil had already been taken out of my palm.

I swiftly yanked my arm back to my side. "N-no problem..." I said, coughing lightly to try and force the hot blush that was spreading over my face again. Oh God, how was I going to last an entire class sitting next to this person? I could hardly keep my wits about me...

I had the sudden urge to wring the neck of a certain blond I knew, but managed to repress that urge for the moment. There was always later. In a dark alley. With no witnesses.

I barely felt the tap on my shoulder, but I felt someone watching me as I tried to hide myself behind my book once more. Slowly, I lowered the text book and glanced to the side, instantly freezing up when my eyes landed and locked on red ones.

He. Was. Looking. Right. At. Me.

"I've seen you before." The red-eyed man spoke, low and almost dangerously. "At the club last night."

H-he _remembered_ me? My mind was instantly flooded with excuse after pitiful excuse as I tried to find my way around this little hiccup. 'You must have me mistaken for someone else' was an excuse that wasn't going to work. How many other blue men with gills did you meet in one lifetime? 'That can't be right; I was working in the homeless shelter and giving blood last night' seemed a little over-the-top to be believed, so I settled with the only response that came naturally.

"Huh?"

Red eyes narrowed, and I instantly regretted my choice of response. "Don't act dumb." The man instructed me.

I gave a heavy sigh, somehow managing to close my eyes and break the spell he had trapped me in. I shook me head, then reopened my eyes, facing the dark haired man once more. "Yeah...I saw you at the club. We, erm, bumped into each other before you...ah..." I trailed off, rubbing at my neck with one hand.

The man seemed to become even more angry now. He was surely just sour at first, but now he seemed to be seething. In a rather calm, collected manner, of course. "Right." He said shortly. "Listen," And I did. "I don't want any unnecessary...stress while here at school. So do you think you could possibly hold your tongue about my night-job?" And while his words came out in question form, his eyes translated a direct order.

"Oh! Oh, of course! I wouldn't dream of mentioning that to anyone. D-don't worry." I insisted. Of course he would be worried about me telling everyone about his nightjob; who wouldn't be? But I wouldn't dream about embarrassing him like that.

...Deidara might... But I could straighten him out later.

"Hn. Good." The man said, his voice still having quite a bite to it. But at least he seemed appeased now. He eyed me over for an extra minute, which had my skin all pins and needles, let me tell you, and then turned forward in his desk again, laying his hand over his paper as he began to write once more. "Oh, and try to keep a leash on that loud-mouth boyfriend you have." He added just when I thought he was going to ignore me.

"Huh? Boyfriend?" It took me a moment to figure out who he was referring to. "Oh! Deidara? Tch, he's not my boyfriend; just some idiot I hang around with." I clarified with a small chuckle. I paused when I saw a flicker of red behind the man's bangs as he glanced my way from the corner of his eye. And then I remembered; Deidara hadn't exactly been on his best behaviour last night... "Oh...uhm, I apologize for my friend. He, uhm, he's easily excitable and he didn't take his meds last night..."

"Hmph." The raven haired man grunted at the meek teasing I was doing towards Deidara. The red behind his bangs disappeared as he turned his attention back to his notebook. "I dislike name-calling and crude ways of speaking. Just try to reign him in. For everyone's sake."

"I-I'll try." I assured with a small smile. I still couldn't quite get over the fact that I was talking to the same man from last night. And I also couldn't stop being amazed at how eloquent he was. His manner of speech and the way he carried himself...it all betrayed his job and how the people in that business were portrayed.

I decided that I liked this guy's way of speech as well as the sound of his voice. Something inside of me longed to hear it again. "Uhm...if I may...how's your shoulder?" I asked, lowering my voice to a whisper again.

The man besides me paused yet again, his fingers tensing as he gripped the pencil in his hand even tighter. He glanced up towards me fully, though his bangs still spilled over either side of his face, almost hiding him. "It's fine." He said. The tone he used was irritated, but beneath that I could hear the faintest hint of embarrassment. I shouldn't have brought that up.

"Oh. Okay, that's good. I was kind of worried when you...ah...sorry..." The glare he gave me told me that I was talking to much and I quickly quieted down.

"...Hn. You're strange." Well, that wasn't anything new to me; I heard that all the time. Sometimes from complete strangers.

But this time, I don't think that the man was talking about the colour of my skin. He just thought I was plain ol' strange; no mention of my looks or height. Strange how I could feel so good about something that wasn't meant to be a compliment. I chuckled under my breath. "So I've been told."

And then, for some reason I can't begin to explain, I turned in my seat again and held out my right hand towards the smaller man. "I'm Kisame. Hoshigake Kisame." Surely he wasn't interesting in knowing my name, but it seemed like the polite thing to do.

And to my complete surprise, the man actually placed his hand in mine to shake (after staring at my offered appendage like he had no clue of what to do with it). "Uchiha Itachi." He introduced in that cool, smooth-as-silver kind of voice.

"Itachi..." I tested the name, then smiled and nodded. "Nice to meet you."

"Hn." Itachi gave a dip of the head in response, then let his eyes slip down to where our hands were joined. "...You can let me go now." He said after a couple of awkward moments where I couldn't seem to pry my hand away from his.

"Ah! Sorry." I apologized once I was able to release the other. I put my hand back onto my desk and turned forward in my seat just as the door to the classroom opened and our teacher, Orochimaru, stepped inside.

As the teacher began explaining his absence and handing out our tests, I knew that my studying must have been in vain; how was I supposed to work properly with this gorgeous person sitting right next to me? Well, I might as well do my best.

So, with a deep inhale, I put pencil to paper and slowly began to work.

**Songstone: Okay, so I've got to thank my friend for helping me out with this story a loooooooong while back. XD So, thanks! You know who you are. XD Anyway, sorry again for the wait here; I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please R&R to let me know you still remember this story at least a little. XD;;**


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